Veto of ward voting bill leaves cities on thin ice

As he promised, Gov. Brian Sandoval last week vetoed a bill that would have changed election procedures in Reno, Sparks and Henderson to ensure that members of the city councils represent the voters in their wards, rather than the city at large.

Why would the governor oppose a system that is used by nearly every municipal government in the nation, as well as counties, legislatures and Congress itself? Because the voters in Reno voted for the status quo on a backwards referendum in November, just as supporters of the current system hoped they would.

That's rather democratic of the Republican governor.

But, as a former attorney general and U.S. district judge, Sandoval should know that his argument would never hold up in court.

If it could, Brown v. Board of Education would never have made it to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954. The citizens of Topeka, Kan., undoubtedly would have voted to continue to segregate their schools if they thought the vote would sway the justices. The white voters of Little Rock, Ark., would have voted to keep the Little Rock Nine, a group of African- American youngsters, out of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The citizens of Mississippi undoubtedly would have voted to keep the African-American James Meredith out of the University of Mississippi in 1962.

If the Bill of Rights means anything at all, it's that the many cannot trample on the rights of the few - even if they vote to do it.

Supporters of the status quo in the three cities (North Las Vegas already has changed, and Carson City is expected to do so) fall back on the undemonstrated and undemonstrable argument that the current system prevents parochialism on a city council. Council members are beholden to the residents of the ward they represent because they only campaign in the ward for the primary, but they're beholden to the entire community because they have to campaign city-wide in the general election.

If true, the theory opens up some intriguing possibilities. Residents of the Las Vegas area insist that what's good for Clark County is good for Nevada, for instance. (They also complain that they are short-changed consistently by the Legislature.) Should we able to vote for members of the Legislature statewide to end regionalism?

If not, does it make any more sense for residents of, say, Damonte Ranch in southeast Reno to vote for a Reno City Council member who represents residents of the McQueen area? Should people in Caughlin Ranch tell residents of northeast Reno who is worthy to represent them? Should central Reno residents play a role in determining any other ward's council member?

Reno, among the three cities, is skating on the thinnest ice because of the way its neighborhoods have developed. The city attorney told the City Council as much several years ago (although he backtracked after the election of a Hispanic council member from the northeast in November).

Sooner or later, there's going to be a lawsuit over the outcome of an election, and the city will lose - regardless of last year's referendum.

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Veto of ward voting bill leaves cities on thin ice

As he promised, Gov. Brian Sandoval last week vetoed a bill that would have changed election procedures in Reno, Sparks and Henderson to ensure that members of the city councils represent the voters

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